Alfa Laval’s New Test & Training Centre Takes Shape, Denmark

Work continues on the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre in Aalborg, Denmark, a facility that will greatly expand Alfa Laval’s marine testing capabilities. The centre, which will serve as a springboard for faster and more effective R&D, will further strengthen Alfa Laval’s capacity for innovative marine solutions that optimize the performance of onboard equipment, save energy and help ship owners comply with environmental legislation.

While the centre’s official inauguration is not scheduled until 15 January 2014, some full-scale prototype testing will be initiated during the month of October.

“For the first time, it will be possible to test equipment and applications on the scale of a seagoing vessel – but with the control and convenience that only exist on land,” says Peter Leifland, President of Alfa Laval’s Marine & Diesel Division. Among the applications he refers to is exhaust gas cleaning, which will be a major focus of the centre as Alfa Laval refines a new generation of PureSOx. “Alfa Laval’s investment in this centre underscores our dedication to developing our capabilities within the marine industry further,” Leifland says.

The new facility, which is taking shape on the site of the former Aalborg Shipyard, will comprise a test area of 250 m2 with an adjoining control and training complex. Built around a large 2 MW marine diesel engine, it will be supplied with seawater from the Limfjord, a body of water connecting the Kattegat Strait with the North Sea. Simply put, the centre will be the full-sized, land-based equivalent of a commercial vessel’s machinery room.

Comprehensive testing under real-life conditions

Conducted under actual operating conditions, the testing and research activities supported by the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will involve the broad range of Alfa Laval equipment and solutions. As on an actual vessel, equipment types will not be isolated, but rather organized into major process lines:

• Fuel line, including fuel conditioning modules and separation modules
• Steam line, including waste heat recovery unit, hot well tank, steam dump condenser and desalination unit
• Exhaust gas line, including selective catalytic reduction units, boiler and scrubber
• Ballast line, including filters and advanced oxidation technology reactor

Overseeing all equipment will be a unified control system, steered from a dedicated room at the facility. Remote access to the control system will even be possible from other Alfa Laval sites, so that testing can be observed from both near and far.

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Press Release, October 10, 2013